Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1002 - 1001 - Scavengers

There was a library in the Golden Vermillion Inn. While it was normally set aside for a guest to relax or study something at their leisure with the payment of Immortal Qi Stones to access the records kept there.

Lind sat under the sunlight streaming in as his emerald hair glowed like a jewel. He was looking at several bestiaries.

Tsunade had not recognized the species he had witnessed exactly but it had sounded familiar.

He finally found a page with the very beast he was looking for.

He examined the detailed drawings and frowned at what he saw. It was not good.

"Idiots. You are so focused on your greed you missed the danger." Lind imprinted a jade slip when a shadow blocked off his sunlight.

He looked up to find a smiling Sorcha looking down at him. Compared to a month ago, she was in much better health and nearing the peak of the Sky Realm.

"Noche Muerte. I have never seen such a name before." He looked up and smiled as he patted her head.

"Night Death or Death in the Night. I am not sure who named them but their class of beast I know well." He pointed to several passages laid out on the open book in front of them. The warmth of the wooden table radiated out to them both where they sat.

{A hybrid creature found only in dangerous zones, the Noche Muerte only moves for 2 reasons. A mass death draws them in to steal what they can or fleeing from a beast tide. In either case, be warned. If they form nests, they will invite more dangerous beasts that use them as a food source. They can multiply quickly and take over an area before even the best formations could detect them.}

It was a grim picture but not what made Lind curse the invaders.

What made him curse was the obvious truth that neither the Shandor Syndicate nor the Eternal Flame Sect realized the danger they were all in.

Their need to dominate and rule had opened them to a danger they remained ignorant of.

It took a few more weeks to confirm the direction the Noche Muerte moved to confirm they came from the east. It meant the danger came from Ogros Kingdom's direction. Based on the snippets they captured, the kingdom was largely intact compared to Kun City.

The wilds were not so untamed in the immediate area but Min confirmed no nest of those beasts had ever been reported in recent history to her former sect.

All of the clues and texts led to the conclusion that danger was looming over them all.

"What is wrong, Master?" He smirked at her term but no longer fought it.

"Our enemies have been ignoring dangerous signs. They destroyed the defenses but think they are safe because of standard practices of cities and sects. The Eternal Blossom Sect, however, was different." He tilted his head back as the wooden chair creaked beneath him.

His crimson robes made his hair and eyes stand out but at that moment, he looked like a sage full of wisdom and disdaining the world.

"What do you mean?" He heard a new voice and turned to see Teegan in the doorway. She was still a young girl but she was getting lessons for the future from him as well.

He enjoyed teaching but the burden he put on this young dragon was a heavier one each day.

"Your former sect was about the balance of nature. Unlike other sects, they did not curtail the wilds but simply nurtured them to stay in balance. While this still kept things peaceful, it means that when that balance was disrupted the scale could tip either way. Beasts could scatter to preserve their lives or it could invite more powerful beasts to come and claim new territory." He spoke calmly but Teegan and Sorcha both looked pale as they understood.

No cultivator was ignorant of what he was saying.

An imbalance in a forest was a prelude to a beast tide. A nasty event that could cause danger to any human or demon settlement depending on its magnitude.

"The Noche Muerte are scavengers of a particular level. They are either picking over the remains of the strong or running from the strong. They do not invade settled territories normally. When the Eternal Flame Sect and Shandor Syndicate took over, they did wipe out several profitable beast packs but did not consider what that would do to the delicate balance the Eternal Blossom Sect had created." He stood up and grabbed another bestiary.

He flipped through it until a grim look came across his face.

He plopped the leather bound volume until both could see a new passage and an illustration.

The very same Noche Muerte were being consumed by vicious creatures with hardened hides and fangs the size of swords. Their eyes were vicious and clearly blood thirsty.

"According to the local records, the once dominant beasts of this area were the Starhide Wolves. They are very difficult to kill due to their impressive tactics and strong skin. They were given the name because even a falling star could not hurt them supposedly." He suspected they were simply earth Qi beasts but as they were in the Celestial Fields, had gotten far stronger than similar beasts in the mortal realm.

"There have not been any sightings of those wolves in over 50 million years. Even I know that. Why would they come back now even when they are so far away?" Lind smirked at Teegan's question and just stared at her.

She blushed as she recalled that even though they were only 2, she and her Elder returned to the ancestral grounds because they felt they had to.

If someone had taken their lands, she would have fought if she could. If not, the moment a chance came, she would return to take it back as that was her instinct. She would not stop trying and that would pass down her bloodline as that was how beasts worked.

Their race memory would always remind them of their vendettas or warn of dangers.

If the lost home of the wolves was around Kun City, they would be back and it would be very bad. They had millions of years to build up strength and wait.

She then looked confused as a thought occurred to her.

"Wouldn't they have suffered like my Clan? All the beast clans in the wild have been decimated to my knowledge." He nodded but then flipped the page. Both women paled at what they saw.

"Crystal Tier Immortals! They have expert Law Binding experts?!" Lind nodded. Wolves were clever and when they gained full sentience, it only increased massively.

"I have no idea how they were driven off or if the loss of their home spurred it on, but those scavengers mean a beast tide is coming and behind it is the old masters of this land." They had thought they could reclaim the city but it seemed the original owners were coming as well.

"What do we do then?" Sorcha asked the question but even Lind felt a bit helpless. He could exert his authority as a higher bloodline but that might actually backfire spectacularly.

The wolves would back off but then they would not raise a paw to fight the Eternal Flame Sect nor the Shandor Syndicate.

"We have to rescue the remaining people from the Eternal Blossom Sect. That is our new priority. Once that is done, we can plan the next step." His words sounded nice but that was a problem.

"Even after all the battles, the sect has over 5 million people still alive. We are not even sure how many are innocent there as the Sect Master had to flee from the traitorous elders." Teegan knew the limits of the Golden Vermillion Inn but Lind smiled at her.

"I have had a thought about that but even if the inn limits were reached I have a space you know very well Teegan." He smiled at her. She slowly nodded as they did have a safe place.

The ancestral grounds of the Blessed Amber Scale Dragons was plenty big enough but it would need supplies.

As if anticipating her thought, he held up his ring and smiled wide.

"Master, what can we do? The sect grounds are fully defended and still intact compared to the city. Even with your abilities, weavers live there in numbers to stop you." She was not wrong at all but he would work on it.

The 2nd layer was presenting him with challenges and advantages in equal measure.

"I will work with Min on that. As to who we save, I will have to make a determination and deal with it. Focus on your part as we will now have to consider what happens after the beast tide." Teegan shivered but she nodded.

The pair then bowed and left him but he was looking at the shelves of books, scrolls, and jade slips.

"I need to find the scavengers." He spoke aloud but was unsure of his thoughts. He knew among those beasts should be some with intelligence but they would run from him if he even gave them a chance to smell him.

Their nature was to avoid the strong and pick over their leavings or flee from them and harvest what they could before the strong came.

He smirked as he realized he was uniquely qualified to reach out. He had not started out as a dragon afterall!